Old Pulteney 1974 - 19 Year Old - First Cask - Single Cask 6278

One of Scotland’s last remaining urban distilleries, the Pulteney distillery is ensconced, as it has been since its foundation in 1826, at the corner of a street in the fishing town of Wick in the Northern Highlands. Pulteney has remained one of Wick’s greatest assets despite the fact that the distillery was closed between 1930 and 1951 after the pious residents voted to ‘go dry’, enacting a US-style alcohol prohibition.

After an ownership merry-go-round that included spells under DCL, Hiram Walker and Allied Domecq, Pulteney was acquired in 1995 by Inver House who have done an admirable job taking Pulteney distillery from a blending workhorse to an established high quality single malt brand. Stylistically, Pulteney is an old-school Highland malt with a thread of smoke and a distinctive saline edge, so older independent bottlings of Pulteney are well worth seeking out at auction.

The First Cask range was a prolific series of single malt whisky bottlings by the UK’s largest mail order wine company Direct Wines Ltd, owner of Laithwaite’s and The Sunday Times Wine Club. From the early 1990s until the mid-Noughties Direct Wines released dozens of outstanding single cask whiskies annually under the First Cask label, almost all of which were bottled at 46%.

These whiskies were not particularly highly sought-after on release, probably because they were only sold online through a wine club.  Back then, of course, it was not widely known that the casks had been sourced from Signatory Vintage, which would certainly have raised their profile among whisky fans. Nowadays, although still frequently excellent value at auction, the First Cask collection - which includes hundreds of long-aged whiskies from distilleries including Brora, Port Ellen, Ardbeg and Macallan - is finally getting the recognition it deserves.